Each year, the computer
world stops and takes a moment to take a glimpse into the computer technology
of the upcoming year. Each year, this event takes place at nearly the same time
at exactly the same place. Boasting an attendance of about 250,000 electronic
component buyers, sellers, and just plain enthusiasts, the event is not one
to be missed. This event is Comdex.

Some has changed since Comdex
got its start quite a few years ago. No longer is Comdex an OEM show, but it
has become more of a consumer show. And with booth prices constantly rising
(many companies pay $50,000 or more for their 5 days of floor space), some have
started to question the importance of perhaps the largest trade show in the
world. With things slowly turning around for Comdex participants, the organization
of the show plans to change to a more OEM atmosphere, bringing the show back
to its roots.

Regardless of how the show
is conducted or how much floor space costs, there is no question that Comdex
remains the one time in the year where companies strut their stuff. Attracting
everyone from the behemoth Microsoft to many companies trying to get their name
on the map, Comdex is not a show to me missed by companies or buyers alike.
For those out there who could not make it to the show this year and were stuck
watching the R2D2 look-alike robot on CNN every 25 minutes, we bring you a summary
of the events and products seen at the show that do matter.

A view of
the show floor.

Motherboards

Even though
Comdex took place a few short days before the launch of the Pentium 4, only
a few i850 motherboards were spotted at Comdex. In fact, the only major manufacturers
that seem to be ready to deliver a Pentium 4 solution are MSI, Gigabyte, and
Aopen. Pictured below, you can see the MSI 850 Pro, featuring 4 184-pin RIMM
slots, an ATA100 controller, and an AGP Pro slot.

In contrast to the poor
i850 turnout, nearly every major motherboard manufacturer proudly displayed
DDR motherboard solutions from AMD, ALI, and VIA. DDR seems to have replaced
RDRAM as the "hot" technology, as every manufacturer we visited was quick to
point out their DDR platforms. On the Athlon desktop side, we were able to gab
a peak at more than a few AMD 760 boards, as well as quite a number of Via's
KT266 which should be arriving soon. We were also quite excited to see many
Apollo Pro 266 based boards that will finally bring DDR memory to the Slot1/Socket370
platform.

Another very
interesting (and quite exciting) item we saw over at the ALi booth was a mobile
DDR platform. Running a Socket A processor, we were able to grab pics of a
prototype motherboard. It is hard to tell from the pictures below, but the
platform was actually mounted stacked on top of a regular ATX motherboard.
Interestingly enough, the mobile motherboard had a large AMD stamped on it,
suggesting that perhaps AMD is perhaps helping ALi make a mobile DDR platform
a reality. This system was using Micron DDR SO-DIMMs, but the memory manufacturer
TwinMOS was also showing these chips off.

Another curious
item we saw over at the TwinMOS booth was 184-pin SDR memory. Essentially,
this is SDR memory that can be used in DDR slots. We suspect that the major
consumer of this type of memory will be OEM system builders who want to take
advantage of upcoming DDR motherboards but do not want to shell out the premium
for DDR memory. As we saw in our latest Weekly
Memory and Motherboard Price Guide, 128MB of PC2100 DDR memory currently
runs about $66 more than its PC133 counterpart. Although we expect this price
premium to drop significantly in the near future (manufacturers are saying
that it really only costs about 3-5% more to make DDR memory over SDR memory),
it seems that TwinMOS' SDR solution may prove to be very attractive, as the
price should be only slightly more than 168-pin SDR memory. The 184-pin SDR
memory could make a great transition product for many system builders.

Luckily, while over at ATI,
we were able to grab a sneak peak at Nintendo's upcoming Gamecube game system.
Powered by a "heavily modified" IBM PowerPC processor and an ATI graphics
chip with integrated north and south bridge produced by ArtX who ATI purchased
about a year ago. We were told that the sample we saw was actually only one
of about nine Gamecubes out there. We were not able to play the system, or even
see it run a demo, but we were able to get a bit more info on Gamecube as well
as a few pictures.

As you can see, the dominate
chip on the Gamecube's PCB is the ATI graphics processor with integrated north
bridge and south bridge. ArtX, the company ATI acquired to win the Nintendo
contract, has been working on this chip for quite some time. Although we were
not able to get more specifications other than those already published, it seems
that the ATI/ArtX team has done their job, as it appears that the Gamecube has
some massive power.

The Gamecube will have a number
of features that we currently wish more systems had. First, the Gamecube is able
to accept memory cards for both storage of saved games as well as what was hinted
at as downloadable demos. The feature that would allow such access would be
provided by either a modem or a broad-band solution that snaps onto the bottom
of the system.

The memory system on the
Gamecube is actually DRAM modified to perform like cache. ATI claims that this
memory should provide very low latency, high speed memory transfers for temporary
data storage, at a fraction of the cost of conventional SRAM (cache). This is
one memory innovation that we hope will move to the PC market soon, as it promises
to ease the memory bandwidth limitations we find in the majority of graphics
cards today.

Finally, we learned a bit
about how Nintendo plans on selling the Gamecube. It seems that there will be
two models of the Gamecube, both with the same speed but one with an additional
feature: DVD playback. Nintendo wants to make the Gamecube very competitively
priced, staying away from the high cost, feature rich systems that we see now,
and producing a lower cost system with high performance. For these users, Nintendo
will have a lower priced Gamecube system that is only a game system. A higher
cost model is also planned, and this one seems to be targeted at the PlayStation
2 market as it contains the same features as the lower end system with the additional
ability to play DVD movies as well as Gamecube games.

All in all it seems that
the Gamecube will be one powerful gaming system. To bad we still have quite a
bit of time before it hits the market.

Another technology that
had a strong showing on the show floor was the emerging field of biometrics:
electronic security that identifies users in a biological manner. This field
of technology has come a long way since its infancy just a few years ago. No
longer are biometrics devices unreliable and costly, but many of the products
we saw on the show floor were easy to use, very secure, and priced competitively.

In the field of security
there three items that comprise the most secure system one can have. These items
are represented by points on a triangle aptly named the security triangle. The
security triangle is composed of: what you know, what you have, and who you
are. By far the most common security method incorporated in electronics today
is based off of the "what you know" apex. This part of the triangle
is used in conventional security devices such as passwords, PIN numbers, and
codes. The item on the security triangle, "what you have", is analogous
to having a key to a room. Entrance is only granted if the user has a physical
object, such as a key. ATM's take advantage of both this method of security
(you ATM card) and the "what you know" apex (your PIN number). Biometrics
attempts to take advantage of the final apex of the security triangle: "who
you are." Largely left untapped, this method of security is perhaps the
most secure, as no one can physically be you. Passwords can be cracked and keys
can be lost, but physical aspects of your body will never go away.

The form of
biometrics that seems to have caught on the most is finger print recognition.
Using any digit of a user's hand to identify the user and allow access, this
form of biometrics is both reliable as well as cost effective. We saw quite
a few varieties of finger print security devices, each one only taking minutes
to train and seconds to recognize the user. Below you will see both a laptop
implementation of this technology (PCMCIA devices are also available) as well
as a PDA implementation. Naturally, desktop models are available as well that
offer extreme ease of use, such as the incorporation of the scanning device
in the thumb location of a normal mouse..

Another, more expensive form of biometrics is iris scanning. Each person's
iris, the colored part of the eye, is unique, meaning that this feature
can be used for identification. Irisscanning systems are generally much
bulkier and much more expensive, but also much more reliable. One company
we saw had an iris scanning demonstration setup, where we were actually
able to test out the capabilities of this technology which they hope to
incorporate in ATM systems in a few years.

Ideally, the most secure
areas will incorporate all three points on the security triangle, having
some type of biometrics device coupled with a physical key as well as a
password. This may be an overkill for personal computers, but may prove
to be invaluable in areas of high risk. For the personal computer user who
just wants some added security, replacing a password with a finger print
detecting device seems very attractive.

Wireless

Another area of technology
that was proudly demonstrated by many on the show floor was various implementations
of wireless technology. We were able to catch a glimpse at products that took
advantage of not only the current 802.11b wireless spec but also Bluetooth and
HomeRF products.

802.11b products
came out with a strong showing, as many mobile computers and internet appliances
used this mode of wirelss transport to offer Internet access. Not much has changed
on the 802.11b front, and the technology remains targeted at large-scale corporate
wireless networks.

Bluetooth,
on the other hand, aims at getting rid of those pesky wires that are constantly
between you and your computer. As we discussed in our Wireless
Future article, Bluetooth currently has quite a large following. On
the show floor, we were able to see quite a few Bluetooth products. We were
finally able to see a Bluetooth printer adapter produced by AXIS, which allows
for wireless printing over a Bluetooth network, as well as Bluetooth cellular
phone adapter that allows for the use of wireless headsets as well as wireless
connectivity to any Bluetooth network. Also displayed was a Bluetooth adapter
for use in the Handspring Visor PDAs.

For example,
one product they have is a box which plugs into any home stereo system. What
this device does is receive an mp3 stream from a computer located anywhere
in the house and pipes the output into the stereo system. This technology
would finally allow for wireless mp3 playback essentially anywhere in the
house, no matter how far away the stereo system is to the computer. The device
includes a simple playlist as well as a display for id3 tags.

The product
becomes even more powerful when coupled with their Palm Pilot product. When
used together, one can actually view all songs on a playlist, see detailed
information about the song, and select specific songs to play, all through
the mp3 set-top box. One can imagine sitting on the couch, browsing an mp3
playlist, and selecting songs to play from your computer, all without leaving
your seat. We were quite impressed, especially with the relatively low price
quoted on these products, of about $100 for the Palm attachment and about
$150 to $200 for the stereo box. Of course, both of these items require you
to have a HomeRF transmitter in your computer.

Other Items

While on the show floor
we were also able to gaze upon some technology that can really only be described
as "neat." This factor plays a large role in the mindset of consumers,
as these products are often the ones that bring the most attention. At this
years Comdex, we ran across a few items that deserve a picture and a brief explanation.

First off is the Hitachi
DVD-RAM camcorder. Able to record home movies on DVD-RAM discs, the camcorder
actually records in MPEG2 format, making it the perfect companion to any home
video editing freak. The discs are able to be rewritten as many times as wanted
and are able to store from 60 minutes to 240 minutes of full motion video on
a single disc, depending on compression.

Also over in the Hitachi
area was what could only be described as glass display. This was essentially
a piece of glass, modified to have the properties necessary to display images
from a standard LCD projector. The image is cast out from the projector and
displayed on the glass, which is seemingly transparent without a picture on
the display. The applications of such a display are countless, and image quality
is great: only when one looks "past" the image can one see what is
behind the glass.

Finally we have one of the
more curious items at the show. Once again, the Sony booth gathered quite a
large crowd with the demonstration of a second generation of their robotic dog,
the AIBO. Adding a few more sensors, servos in the ears for movement, a small
camera in the head (for digital pictures), and some general enhancements, the
AIBO ERS-210 is one step above its older brother. The AIBO proves to be quite
a concept, as the dog does more than walk, it plays, learns, listens, and more.
It just might make the perfect pet for those who can not have a real dog, but
as of now it is still quite a few steps behind it's living brother.

If Comdex is any indication,
next year will be quite exciting in the field of electronics. This year's Comdex
did not seem to produce any products worthy of being called revolutionary, but
it did produce quite a number of very interesting and useful products. The motherboard
front appears to be quickly jumping on the DDR bandwagon, providing users with
quite a few more options than they previously had. Gaming systems, demonstrated
by the Gamecube, are catching up to the speed of today's computers (meaning that
they will be only slightly dated when they come out a year or so from now).
Biometrics is providing a huge leap in security, at a fraction of the price
it used to be. And, finally, wireless technology appears to finally be taking
off. With so many "hi-tech" products at this year's Comdex, we can't
wait for next year's.